--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: no one bears witness for the witness" description: "\"no one bears witness for the witness\" — Paul Celan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcb/paul-celan-10412_bears_no-one-bears-witness-for-the-witness-166_1663786.jpg" --- # no one bears witness for the witness ![“no one bears witness for the witness” quote by Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcb/paul-celan-10412_bears_no-one-bears-witness-for-the-witness-166_1663786.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcb/paul-celan-10412_bears_no-one-bears-witness-for-the-witness-166_1663786.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcb/paul-celan-10412_bears_no-one-bears-witness-for-the-witness-166_1663786.jpg) > “no one bears witness for the witness” [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Witnessing requires others to attest; without witnesses, truth remains hidden. **In simple terms:** Witnesses validate truth. Key Takeaway Seek or become a witness. Themes justice memory truth Mood somber determined Type poetic ethical When to use this quote - legal testimony - historical research - personal storytelling - activism Key Concepts philosophy history Questions to Reflect On - Who can you support as a witness? - How does bearing witness affect you? A Different Perspective Silence or lack of witnesses can perpetuate injustice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Bears Witness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears-witness-787822/) [Witness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/witness/) [Witness Witness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/witness-witness-787821/) ## Related quotes > [“You cannot be aware of yourself, for you are awareness itself. How can a witness witness itself? That is like trying to see your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/you-cannot-be-aware-of-yourself-for-you-are-awareness-itself-how-can/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [When you listen to a witness, you become a witness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/when-you-listen-to-a-witness-you-become-a-witness/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Sadness comes, joy comes, and everything passes by. What remains always is the witness. The witness is beyond all polarities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/sadness-comes-joy-comes-and-everything-passes-by-what-remains-always/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Witness the witness itself - and... the ultimate ecstasy is created. Start watching your thoughts but don't stop there... One more thing has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/witness-the-witness-itself-and-the-ultimate-ecstasy-is-created-start/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [As Albert Camus wrote, the doctor’s role is as a witness – to witness authentically the reality of humanity, and to speak out against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-orbinski/as-albert-camus-wrote-the-doctor-s-role-is-as-a-witness-to-witness/) [James Orbinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-orbinski/) > [And then the witness, if you go down into the witness, that has the spiritual being. Down there, in your soul, you'll get far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/and-then-the-witness-if-you-go-down-into-the-witness-that-has-the/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [Here man is no longer the center of the world, only a witness, but a witness who is also a partner in the silent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/here-man-is-no-longer-the-center-of-the-world-only-a-witness-but-a/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [There is one purpose to life and one only: to bear witness to and understand as much as possible of the complexity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/there-is-one-purpose-to-life-and-one-only-to-bear-witness-to-and/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [I know that God is our Father. He introduced His Son, Jesus Christ, to Joseph Smith. I declare to you that I know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boyd-k-packer/i-know-that-god-is-our-father-he-introduced-his-son-jesus-christ-to/) [Boyd K. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boyd-k-packer/) > [All I did was to look at what the universe showed me, to let my brush bear witness to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-monet/all-i-did-was-to-look-at-what-the-universe-showed-me-to-let-my-brush/) [Claude Monet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-monet/) > [The intensive use of photographs by mass media lays ever fresh responsibilities upon the photographer. We have to acknowledge the existence of a chasm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/the-intensive-use-of-photographs-by-mass-media-lays-ever-fresh/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) > [Dan Brister's book bears witness to the last fifteen years of this bureaucratic madness to tame the last vestige of wild America and domesticate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-peacock/dan-brister-s-book-bears-witness-to-the-last-fifteen-years-of-this/) [Doug Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-peacock/) > [“The silent bear no witness against themselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-silent-bear-no-witness-against-themselves/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Jesus’ example of fidelity to prayer challenges us to examine the time and effort we devote to our own prayer. While prayer is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/jesus-example-of-fidelity-to-prayer-challenges-us-to-examine-the-time/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [When we go... to bear witness to life on the streets, we're offering ourselves. Not blankets, not food, not clothes, just ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-glassman/when-we-go-to-bear-witness-to-life-on-the-streets-we-re-offering/) [Bernie Glassman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-glassman/) ## More by Paul Celan > [“Autumn eats its leaf out of my hand: we are friends. From the nuts we shell time and we teach it to walk: then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/autumn-eats-its-leaf-out-of-my-hand-we-are-friends-from-the-nuts-we/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [Tall poplars--human beings of this earth!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/tall-poplars-human-beings-of-this-earth/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [Death is a master from Germany.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/death-is-a-master-from-germany/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [“spills of mire I swallowed inside the tower”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/spills-of-mire-i-swallowed-inside-the-tower/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [We are told that when Hölderlin went 'mad,' he constantly repeated, 'Nothing is happening to me, nothing is happening to me.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/we-are-told-that-when-h-lderlin-went-mad-he-constantly-repeated/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [He speaks truly who speaks the shade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/he-speaks-truly-who-speaks-the-shade/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [“Your hair waves once more when I weep. With the blue of your eyes you lay the table of love: a bed between summer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/your-hair-waves-once-more-when-i-weep-with-the-blue-of-your-eyes-you/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [They've healed me to pieces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/they-ve-healed-me-to-pieces/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [Poetry is perhaps this: an Atemwende, a turning of our breath. Who knows, perhaps poetry goes its way—the way of art—for the sake of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/poetry-is-perhaps-this-an-atemwende-a-turning-of-our-breath-who-knows/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [There was earth inside them, and they dug.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/there-was-earth-inside-them-and-they-dug/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [Read! Read all the time, the understanding will come by itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/read-read-all-the-time-the-understanding-will-come-by-itself/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [“Schwerer werden. Leichter sein.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/schwerer-werden-leichter-sein/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [“Autunm eats its leaf out of my hand: we are friends. From the nuts we shell time and we teach it to walk: then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/autunm-eats-its-leaf-out-of-my-hand-we-are-friends-from-the-nuts-we/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [Reality is not simply there, it must be searched and won.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/reality-is-not-simply-there-it-must-be-searched-and-won/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [Don't sign your name between worlds, surmount the manifold of meanings, trust the tearstain, learn to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/don-t-sign-your-name-between-worlds-surmount-the-manifold-of-meanings/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) [Explore all 61 Paul Celan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) ## More Bears quotes > [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [She'd read once that if you ran into a bear in the woods you should avoid eye contact and you shouldn't run away, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/she-d-read-once-that-if-you-ran-into-a-bear-in-the-woods-you-should/) [Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/) > [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Television series are like the stock market. There's room for bears and bulls but no room for pigs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-newhart/television-series-are-like-the-stock-market-there-s-room-for-bears/) [Bob Newhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-newhart/) > [The Germans are the most philosophic people in the world, and the greatest smokers: now I trace their philosophy to their smoking. Smoking has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-borrow/the-germans-are-the-most-philosophic-people-in-the-world-and-the/) [George Henry Borrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-borrow/) > [...Gratitude transforms the torment of memory of good things now gone into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/gratitude-transforms-the-torment-of-memory-of-good-things-now-gone/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [You've had a whole lot of experience, but everything is also radically new at each moment, and you have to bring a kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-houston/you-ve-had-a-whole-lot-of-experience-but-everything-is-also-radically/) [Jean Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-houston/) > [The rationale which accompanies that imposition of male authority euphemistically referred to as 'the battle of the sexes' bears a certain resemblance to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-millett/the-rationale-which-accompanies-that-imposition-of-male-authority/) [Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-millett/) > [Pay no heed to the passing religious vogue. Go back to the grass roots. Open your hearts and search the Scriptures. Bear your cross,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/pay-no-heed-to-the-passing-religious-vogue-go-back-to-the-grass-roots/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [I want you to take a red-hot bath as hot as you can bear it, and just relax your nerves. You can read in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-want-you-to-take-a-red-hot-bath-as-hot-as-you-can-bear-it-and-just/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [He sank into the rocking chair, the same one in which Rebecca had sat during the early days of the house to give embroidery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/he-sank-into-the-rocking-chair-the-same-one-in-which-rebecca-had-sat/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [Some things in this world just ain't meant to be, not in the times we want 'em to, and the heart has to hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/some-things-in-this-world-just-ain-t-meant-to-be-not-in-the-times-we/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [And if anyone knows anything about anything," said Bear to himself, "it's Owl who knows something about something," he said, "or my name's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-if-anyone-knows-anything-about-anything-said-bear-to-himself-it-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm totally independent. I don't bear any responsibility to any system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/i-m-totally-independent-i-don-t-bear-any-responsibility-to-any-system/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [I'm supportive of women, absolutely, and it's so gratifying to have girls come up and say, 'I'm really inspired by your guitar playing.' I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-vincent/i-m-supportive-of-women-absolutely-and-it-s-so-gratifying-to-have/) [St. Vincent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-vincent/) [Browse all 4,111 Bears quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "no one bears witness for the witness", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Celan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/no-one-bears-witness-for-the-witness/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bears" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/no-one-bears-witness-for-the-witness/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcb/paul-celan-10412_bears_no-one-bears-witness-for-the-witness-166_1663786.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcb/paul-celan-10412_bears_no-one-bears-witness-for-the-witness-166_1663786.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcb/paul-celan-10412_bears_no-one-bears-witness-for-the-witness-166_1663786.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“no one bears witness for the witness” — Paul Celan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Paul Celan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "no one bears witness for the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/no-one-bears-witness-for-the-witness/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/no-one-bears-witness-for-the-witness/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```